A beautiful orchid from my Mom, so many little smiling faces peeking out at me, it is LOVELY!
A hydrangea from my husband's parents, isn't it lovely?
And this vibrant pot of petunias from my church family.
I have always loved flowers, from the early days when I worked as a floral designer and many times floral images show up in my work. I'm not good with house plants but last year I managed to keep some flowers on my front and back porches and they were so much fun. My first art quilt all those years ago was inspired by a dogwood.
This is a combination of hand painted fabrics, all kinds of fabrics, not just cottons, even some sheer organza if memory serves. Each of the four petals is bound with an edge that goes to the center and the double wedding ring motif seems to show through. It's mounted on a wooden frame that I made especially from a piece of 1/4 inch ply, made to fit and provide support with all the rough bits sanded off. I think I camped out in a friend's woodshop to make that, every tool you could imagine at my fingertips, if I could just figure them all out. I remember the house I lived in when I made it (that would have been six houses back) and the table I made it on (which I still have though it needs some repairs.) I also remember having it in an art show and they put it in a place where you could see it the moment you walked into the display area, I was really pleased with that. It seems like a long ago chapter of my life, so much wrapped up in a simple quilt.
And the three dogwood trees in my back yard are on the verge of full tilt glory!
I'm really thanking God for the small things right now. I'm med free one week out from major surgery - that's a miracle I think. I am so very grateful! I still have to take the iron, it's just going to take a while to kick the anemia I suppose. For a while my fridge looked like a food traffic jam, I stuck a bunch of stuff in the freezer. I think there is a meal coming Thursday evening and that will be that. I threw together a quick dinner tonight, mostly reheating things I'd put in the freezer before surgery. Mashed potatoes, meatballs and green beans all smothered in mushroom gravy. It really hit the spot. I sat in the cool breeze on the back deck, wrapped in a light blanket enjoying that comfort food and it was worth it. I really hope to be able to get back to some real cooking before long, I've got a dozen beautiful brown eggs, and they are just beggin to be made into omlettes when I get a little more mojo. Now if I can manage a trip to the grocery without anyone screaming at me, I'm not supposed to drive for three more weeks. Well... we both know that's unrealistic. I've got the cabin fever without the energy to do anything about it, so I'll stay put for a while yet I suppose. Although... I'm not ruling out a trip to Food Lion in the very near future, should the body allow.
It was last week at about this time that I was coming out from under the anesthesia and before I headed back to the OR for the second time. Seasons like these make me so overwhelmingly grateful for the smallest things. Strong muscles, incredibly complicated yet simple systems of the body, we really are fearfully and wonderfully made. I've also been very grateful that if I had to be cooped up in a house, that it was at least this house... where the views are beautiful and the dogs are my constant companions. There have been cards, balloons, phone calls and messages of caring from all over, which is humbling really. I am so grateful to have so many precious people in my life! And so... if I must be glued to my sofa for a while longer with a novel in my face... well then... so be it! I am grateful.
In gratitude,
-Carmen Rose
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